TasteTwenty Chef Kathleen Crook’s Santa Fe Dining Guide
The Market Steer Steakhouse owner shares her go-to restaurants for classic eats and new hot spots ahead of her Taste America Santa Fe event.
Market Steer Steakhouse's main dining room.
Fri, November 7, 2025
Editor’s Note: The James Beard Foundation’s Taste America® culinary series presented by Capital One brings together chefs, special guests, and diners from across the country to celebrate the local independent restaurants at the heart of our communities. The Taste America TasteTwenty cohort, comprised of 20 exceptional chefs and changemakers, will showcase their talents and represent their city’s independent restaurant community at walkaround tastings and dinners nationwide.
These chefs are not only creative dynamos in the kitchen, they're also avid diners, so we’re introducing a special city guide series where each TasteTwenty chef will share what they love about their city’s food scene.
Next up in our series is Kathleen Crook, chef/owner of Market Steer Steakhouse, a classic American steakhouse with a modern twist, located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Here, Crook shares her favorite places to eat, drink, and shop in Santa Fe, including where to find green chile dishes, the best burger in town, and an esoteric wine store.
Kathleen Crook. (Photo: Vivien Killilea)
What does it mean to be part of the JBF Taste America TasteTwenty cohort?
I'm so humbled to be a part of the conversation and to have been picked. I think it’s always a chef’s dream and goal to get the recognition from an organization like the James Beard Foundation but then when it actually happens it’s like, ‘Holy cow!’ It’s so humbling and rewarding all at the same time. It absolutely means the world to me and what it’s going to do for my little restaurant here in Santa Fe.
What do you love about the food scene in your city?
I would call it diverse. I do these walking tours for the Santa Fe School of Cooking; they bring in people every other week and we talk about what it means to be part of the culinary scene here. I call it tiny but mighty. There’s a lot of northern New Mexico restaurants but they’re all different. I would say the diversity is really what has got me hooked here.
Go-to spot to take visitors:
La Choza, a northern New Mexico restaurant. The red chile and the green chile are so fantastic, the staff is always good, and the food is consistent. That's my go-to to take anyone who wants their northern New Mexico chile fix.
Lobster Thermidor at Market Steer Steakhouse.
Must-try dish in your city:
The lamb burger at Joseph’s Culinary Pub. The meat is local, they make own English muffins, and they do this green chile cream cheese on it. It's unique and super flavorful; it’s one of my favorite dishes in town. I try not to go there a lot, so I don’t wear it out, but it’s definitely something that I keep craving.
Best special occasion restaurant:
I like Izanami—it’s this Japanese-inspired restaurant. It's halfway up the ski hill at a resort called Ten Thousand Waves. It's so good and it’s very different from anything in town. The chef there is really amazing, and the food can back it up. The hot rock they do is really good. It's one of my favorites. The ambiance is fun—you can go there and soak in the hot springs and then go have a nice dinner in your robe if you want to. It’s great.
What does an ideal night out in your city look like?
Quiet. My kitchen is open here in the restaurant and my wife runs front of house, so we’re guest-facing five to six days a week—it’s hard to want to go out. An ideal night out is an ideal night off. There are a couple quainter places that are quiet, and we enjoy a nice dinner and not talk about work [and] relax. We go to Joseph’s [Culinary Pub] quite a bit. There’s a restaurant called Horno that we also frequent. Their motto is “food for the people” and they lean a little bit in the Italian direction, but they have Thai-style chicken wings on the menu. They have a little bit of everything and it’s really fun.
Market Steer's Tack Room bar.
What restaurant are you most looking forward to checking out?
I haven't been to Coyote Cafe in a while; my friend Dakota Weiss is back there. She was a TasteTwenty chef. Since she’s taken it back over, I’m looking forward to going back and checking it out because she’s crazy-talented.
Restaurant dish you’d cry over if they took it off the menu:
The duck pad Thai at Joseph’s [Culinary Pub]. They put it on [the menu] around Covid and it’s kind of been a go-to of mine there for a while. It’s just comforting, a little spicy, a little sweet, and it’s got fried duck cracklings on top.
Favorite food/drink specialty shop:
Susan’s Fine Wine and Spirits. They have a wide variety of natural wines and super esoteric stuff that you’re not going to find unless it’s on a restaurant menu kind of thing, and then the usual suspects.
Who is another chef you admire in your city (and why)?
Dakota [Weiss] is up there for sure. She works hard, she’s talented, she’s good to her staff. We kind of come from that same mentality of ‘you get out of your people what you put into your people’ and really trying to create a positive culture to work in. She doesn’t just say it; she actually follows through on it—and I respect that.